Friday, April 29, 2011

Welcome to No Filter Friday, my day to let loose with all that's been bothering the poop out of me all week. Let's get going, shall we?

I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little freaked out by the weird weather. This week's massive tornado outbreak has me troubled. Fortunately I live in New Jersey where these things are supposed to be rare; however, there were funnel clouds reported over the northern part of the state on Thursday. One of the snowiest winters ever, tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes - wtf Mother Nature?!?!

I've yet to be complacent and accept incompetence wherever I go. I know I've bitched about this in the past, but I am here to bitch about it again. I'm almost done with my kitchen reno (thank God above) but for the appliance mishap. Apparently the salesperson keyed in the wrong number when placing my order so instead of receiving the stainless steel dishwasher that I wanted, they shipped over the black one. Now I have to wait another week until the dishwasher I ordered a month and a half ago gets here. I N C O M P E T E N C E everywhere you go!!!

I hate big dogs. Don't get me wrong, I'm an animal lover. I used to have pets. I get the whole PETA thing. But my neighbors have three 100+ pound dogs that just piss me off. They're loud. They howl. They jump on me and knock me down. And they drool all over the place. Now that I have 2 young children, I really don't like these dogs. Stay away from my kids and stop barking when we're playing outside. Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!

Bartók’s mother, Norma Herr, was a pianist who suffered from schizophrenia and was homeless for much of her life. When Bartók was a child, her unpredictable mother tried to jump out of a second-floor window. After enduring years of painful uncertainty, Bartók and her sister made the difficult decision to cut off all ties to their mother, with only a post office address as a tenuous connection. They changed their names, too, and had unpublished telephone numbers and addresses. Only after Bartók suffered a debilitating brain injury in an automobile accident and discovered her mother’s stored artifacts were she and her mother able to re-connect. After the accident, Bartók covered her computer with Post-it notes of “things I can’t remember anymore,” yet memories of her childhood fill these pages as images come flooding back and she tries valiantly to make sense of them within a contemporary context that bridges the past and the present. By the time mother and daughter meet again, some 17 years later in 2006, her mother is dying from cancer.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme about (mostly) books and reading. This week's BTT asks . . .
If you could see one book turned into the perfect movie - one that would capture everything you love, the characters, the look, the feel, the story – what book would you choose?

That's a tough one for me. There are so many I read that I can picture certain actors portraying the characters. I would have to say any book by Adriana Trigiani. Her novels are so descriptive and characters so colorful that they would make for a great motion picture. I'm thinking perhaps "Lucia, Lucia" or "Rococo."

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

I was never one to claim I had the whole mothering thing down. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure my oldest will be completely screwed up and need years of therapy. However, there are certain things I figured out along the way that I thought were great parenting techniques . . . until I had another child.

My oldest is on the cusp of age 5 and when he refuses to do something, the counting to 3 thing still works on him. Honest to God I have no idea what I will do when I get to 3, but that's besides the point. I never get to 3. He grunts and groans at 1 and is doing what is asked of him by 2. Okay, I've got this disciplining thing. Not so fast smartypants.

Along comes baby boy #2 and he's a whole different ball of wax. He will be 2 at the end of May and just flat out refuses to do what is asked of him. I figure I've been down this road before, I know exactly what to do. Here comes the counting to 3, baby boy. I start with 1 and he chimes in and keeps counting to 12. I've put him in time-out (I guess that's what you do when you get to 3) and he cries but still refuses to do what is asked of him. Maybe he's still a bit young to grasp the concept of what's going on . . . but I think not.

Another thing baby boy does that the oldest never did - hit. He hits his big brother only he does it on the sly, making you think big brother is the problem. As soon as big brother yells "Moooooooooom", he starts to cry making me thing he's the one who's hurt. He actually thinks hitting is funny. He's swung at me a couple of times. This shocked me at first. The oldest child never dared raised his hands to me. This is not tolerated so baby boy goes straight to time-out, cries, and comes out swinging.

The dynamic of having 2 children is very different than having just one. There's a sibling thing going on there - a competition of sorts. The way I see it, I'm just a referee and official gatekeeper of time-out. Double the trouble and still double the reward.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"In all seriousness, Cassie, the last thing in the world I want is to offend you. But Bruiser doesn't seem to act like other children I've known."~p.79, A Pebble to Polish by Janet Lord Leszl

Monday, April 25, 2011

Back in November, we redid the boys' room and added some bunk beds. I love bunk beds. My brothers had them when we were growing up and they're terrific space-savers. The little man enjoys sleeping both on top and bottom. Apparently he's into bed-hopping in the middle of the night.

After having baby boy #2, I swore he would be out of the crib and in a bed when he was 1 year old. Well, we're one month away from his 2nd birthday and he's still in the crib . . . until today.

Little man wakes up on a daily basis, school or not, around 6:30am. If baby boy #2 hears him walk past his closed bedroom door, he's sure to wake up right after, crying for me to get him out of his crib. This morning, little man was up at 6:40am and baby boy #2 was up right after. Only he wasn't crying for me to come and get him. He was turning the handle of his bedroom door and walking down the hall.

That's right. Baby boy #2 somehow figured out how to get out of the crib. Obviously, I have to put him in the bottom bunk tonight. I feel lucky he didn't flip out of the crib and break a bone this morning, and I'm certainly not going to take that chance in the mornings to come.

I'm somehow prepared for flights of fancy down the hall to our bedroom in the middle of the night. I'm even prepared for someone falling out of the bottom bunk after little man does his late-night bed swap. I'm just not prepared to have 2 big boys and no more babies. Sigh . . .

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts Musing Mondays. This week’s musing asks…Do the members of your family read? Do you think it was passed down to you? Or, if you want you can answer this: Who do you think influenced you as a reader?

My father always read books, just not to the extent that I think I do. There is always a bookmarked book on the table whenever I visit him today. My mother did find the time to enjoy reading once we were grown and out of her hair, though now she doesn't have the patience to sit and read. I know as a young child I loved to read. I'm not sure if it was my father that was the influence or if I simply loved the look and feel of a book ~ as I still do today.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Just a bit of bitchin' this Good Friday/Earth Day. Enjoy the holiday weekend everyone!

Why do people confirm you as a friend on facebook and then admit they have no idea who you are? I know it's been a while for some people, which is part of the beauty of facebook, but saying you're friends and then asking how they know you is quite rude, in my opinion.

I hate the term "birther." It sounds like it has nothing at all to do with politics.

I'm a little excited about the upcoming nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton; however, I seriously doubt I'm getting up at 5:30am to watch it. I know a group of moms who are having a royal wedding party at 5:30am - come in your pajamas and wear tiaras. Really? A tiara? Sorry, I must've misplaced mine after the last ball I attended.

Katy at A Few More Pages hosts Book Beginnings. Want to participate? Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading. Include the title and the author. Then, if you would like, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line and if you liked or did not like the sentence.

~A Pebble to Polish by Janet Lord Leszl

"This is going to be the most important day of my life. I can just feel it."

I like the opening lines of this book. It draws you in right away, making you want to read more.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Katy at A Few More Pages is hosting 2nds Challenge 2011. Since I'm already participating in a few other challenges, this one actually fits in with them so I figured why not.

The gist of this challenge is to read another book by an author you have previously read. This could be the second in a series or just the second time you're giving this author another read. You have until December 31 to accomplish this challenge. For more on the guidelines and to link up, click here.

I think I'm going to partake in the Just a Spoonful level and read 3 novels that fit this criteria:

An Object of Beauty by Steve MartinLucky by Alice SeboldThe Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

I don't particularly surf YouTube, but hubby showed this to me last night and I found it quite disturbing. I almost don't want to believe it's real, but my scratchy throat and continuous sneezing tell me otherwise.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts WWW Wednesdays. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I am currently reading A Pebble to Polish by Janet Lord Liszl. I just started 2 days ago but I'm already struggling a bit with it.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

I've recently noticed everyone has become obsessed with using acronyms for things instead of saying the actual words. Acronyms simply use the first initials of several words to make a new word. For example, lol is laugh out loud. I suppose we have instant messaging, I mean IM'ing, to thank for all these abbreviations. But I think it's gotten out of control.

This first came to my attention the other night when I was watching That Metal Show on VH1 Classics. Yes, I'm a recovering metal head and I do enjoy watching these die-hards rock on. Anyway, the host of the show was talking to a member of Velvet Revolver. When referencing the band, he would say "VR" instead of Velvet Revolver. This pissed me off! The band's name is not VR. Come on people!

Then last night I was watching Selling New York on TLC, I believe. One of the realtors got a listing for a property in Dumbo. What the hell is Dumbo? Only Dumbo I know is in Disney. Come to find out Dumbo stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. There are even signs to take the ferry to Dumbo. I have no idea what's going on anymore.

I even see Dancing with the Stars referenced as DWTS online. Do we need to abbreviate everything?!?

Acronymslist.com posts over 40,000 acronyms. All these abbreviations seem so impersonal to me. And sometimes confusing because I don't always know what they mean.

Maybe I'm just old, but I don't like using abbreviations. I'm thinking of instituting a ban of all acronyms in my posts, emails and texts. This new way of communicating is FUBAR, IMO!

Monday, April 18, 2011

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts Musing Mondays. This week’s musing asks…What’s at the top of your must-buy list, right now? (or, if you don’t wait — if you’re more impulsive — what books have you recently purchased?)

I have quite a few that I'd really like right now. I suppose if I had to make a list of my top 3, it would look like this:

The Foremost Good Fortune by Susan ConleyThe Uncoupling by Meg WolitzerFriendship Bread by Darien Gee

Friday, April 15, 2011

I'm so involved in my kitchen reno that I'm late with my posting and I'm not sure what's been going on in the world this past week. No worries - I'm sure there are a few things I can think of to bitch about.

Is it necessary that we have to ruin anything that is good in the world? The upcoming nuptials of Kate Middleton and Prince William have rumor mills spinning with is she or isn't she pregnant. She hung in there with him for 10 years and is finally getting married. The world is watching and waiting for a fantastic wedding - something positive in a world overflowing with bad news. Must everything be tainted with some "scandal." Give the girl a break and let her have her day - pregnant or not.

Zsa Zsa Gabor and her husband want to have a baby before she dies. Really? I can see having a surrogate carry the baby but a 94-year old woman and a 67-year old man want to raise a baby? Good luck with that!

Hey Donald Trump, shut up!

What is going on in the world when All My Children and One Life to Live get cancelled? Do I hear "last call" going out to the daytime soap opera? Aren't soaps a national institution of sorts? Don't they have huge conventions and such? I personally haven't watched daytime soaps since I was in high school so I don't care one way or the other. Bye bye Erica Kane. Hello Real Housewives USA (ugh).

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Although this is a Wednesday blog hop hosted by Ruthi Reads!, you are welcome to hop in at any time. Just share exactly 100 words from your current read(s) and add your post URL to the linky list. You can use The Word Count Tool to count book excerpts.

From Falling Manby Don DeLillo, page 218:

She came across the obituary late one night, looking at a newspaper that was six days old.

They die every day, Keith said once. There's no news in that.

He was back in Las Vegas now and she was in bed, flipping the pages, reading the obits. The force of this obituary did not register at once. A man named David Janiak, 39. The account of his life and death was brief and sketchy, written in haste to make a deadline, she thought. She thought there would be a complete report in the paper of the following day. There was no . . .

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

I'm obsessed with a new handbag from Jessica Simpson. I can't get this bag out of my mind but I can't justify spending $100 on it either.

This is the Katie Satchel. Isn't it cute?!? This lavender color is just fab for spring. I love the structure and design of this bag. It's very feminine.

In my quest to find a better price (which I did at Zappos), I stumbled upon this similar version called Fun and Fancy by Nine West.

This one is actually a bit more expensive on Zappos than the Jessica Simpson one, but it's also a little bigger. I like them both. I'm dazed and confused.

I think it's down to color choice. I love the lavender Jessica Simpson, but I'm afraid it'd get dirty in no time. The Nine West blue lagoon is much more practical since I'm running around with 2 boys all the time. I just hate being practical!

I think I had a revelation! This would make a great Mother's Day gift . . . for me!!! I'll be sure to email a link of this post to hubby. Let him decide.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The official work on my kitchen started this morning, bright and early at 8am. I am presently stuck in the upper regions of my home with a 4-year-old and 1 year-old-boy. Six hours in and none of us are happy at this point.

The kitchen is in the center part of the house. You can't access the family room without going through the kitchen. The family room houses the big TV and the Wii. The 4-year-old is not pleased. He's already done 2 puzzles, played Elefun, Honey Bee Tree and numerous games on the computer. He's presently laying on my bed watching PBS kids with his Leapster. Poor kid, right?

My refrigerator is currently in my garage. Not so bad except I have to go outside to get into the garage. The only other access to the garage is from the family room. Gotta love the 1960s layout of my cookie cutter home.

We found a place to put the microwave in the family room. It's fine, except I have to go outside and through the garage to get to it. Considering my refrigerator, which is housing all of our food, is in the garage, a few more steps into the family room to warm it up isn't such a big deal.

I miss a working kitchen. And I hate mess. Maybe if it were a bit warmer and sunnier out today, we'd all be in the yard and it wouldn't seem so bad. Cooler temps and showers are making it worse than it really is. Thanks again, Mother Nature.

I've heard the best part of a kitchen reno is when it's done. I'm counting down the days . . .

Monday, April 11, 2011

MizB at Should Be Reading hosts Musing Mondays. This week’s musing asks: If you’re a mood reader, what (genre) do your moods usually call you to read? I definitely go for the beach reads - fun, frivolous fiction. A light read usually soothes most of my moods.